Milei Courts AI Data Centers With a Regulation-free Haven in Argentina

WHO:

Fast Company - Argentine President Javier Milei is seeking foreign investment in AI and data centers with a hands-off regulatory approach. He told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “We are not going to regulate artificial intelligence. We are going to leave it free.”

ABC News - Visitors meeting Milei and his aides included venture capitalist Peter Thiel and representatives of OpenAI, Amazon, Google, Oracle and data center companies, according to AP-obtained visitor logs.

ABC News - Crusoe, a data center developer that helped build OpenAI’s flagship campus in Texas, sought talks with Argentine energy officials about U.S. government-backed investments, according to Foreign Ministry records.

Fast Company - Green Capital’s international development head Marta Zlotkowska said Patagonia ranked first across the company’s comparisons of potential project locations.

ABC News - Andrés Arbeletche, Chubut’s cabinet coordination secretary, said attracting investors who trust Argentina under different political parties is a major challenge.

WHAT:

ABC News - Green Capital plans a $3 billion Patagonia data center to lease to technology companies for AI computing; it has not secured a customer.

Fast Company - Pampa Energía plans to supply large amounts of gas-fired power to a data center near Vaca Muerta and is seeking developers.

ABC News - Milei is promoting a proposed tax incentive that would reduce corporate income tax from 25% to 15% for projects of at least $1 billion in AI and other emerging industries. The measure awaits Senate approval.

ABC News - Fourteen landowners, including the family of sheep farmer Francisco Sáenz, leased Green Capital a combined 130,000 hectares (about 321,000 acres). Ranchers expect to continue grazing sheep nearby.

ABC News - At projected peak demand and continuous operation, the planned campus would consume about 2.7 times the annual electricity used by Buenos Aires in 2025, according to an AP calculation.

ABC News - Green Capital says it will generate its own electricity using wind turbines, solar farms and gas-fired generators. The project’s environmental studies remain underway, permits are pending, and its water needs and gas-power share have not been specified.

ABC News - Trelew residents have protested under the banner “Trelew Free of Data Centers.” Opposition lawmakers have stalled Milei’s proposal to let AI agents control companies and forced changes to a bill easing restrictions on foreign land ownership.

WHERE:

Fast Company - Patagonia offers open land, a cool climate, strong winds and access to shale gas at Vaca Muerta.

ABC News - The planned Green Capital campus is in Chubut province; nearby Trelew residents have raised concerns about its environmental effects.

WHEN:

ABC News - Construction of Green Capital’s planned data center is not expected to begin until around 2028.

WHY:

ABC News - Milei is courting data centers to attract foreign investment. Patagonia’s available land, cooling climate, wind resources and gas reserves are presented as advantages.

Fast Company - Green Capital’s Zlotkowska said grid-access conflicts in densely populated parts of the United States and Europe make Patagonia attractive.

ABC News - Critics say data centers employ relatively few people and the proposed incentives do not require local access to computing capacity or disclosure of energy and water use. Researcher Alan Rocha Varsanyi said computing capacity would be exported to wherever companies such as OpenAI need it.

ABC News - Computer science professor Nicolás Wolovick warned that without rules Argentina could become a “laboratory” for risky AI deployment, including risks such as mass surveillance and cyberattacks.

(UPDATED November 2, 2026 15:01 UTC)

President Javier Milei is courting AI investment with minimal regulation, attracting major technology companies. Green Capital plans a Patagonia data center, but has no customer. Permits remain pending, and construction is expected around 2028.